Looked Nuclear to Me But It’s Coal Burning

Sometimes you just have to pull over on the side of the road and hurry up and get the camera out. Hurry. cause the daylight is scant. You see something – want to make a note of it. Driving home from Indiana PA last Saturday night, I saw this scene on the horizon at dusk. Limits of photography, the photograph can’t capture the expansive and open feel of the country, the space. This plant touts the third tallest chimney in the world. I went and read about it. I discovered it isn’t a nuclear plant. Those big coolers made it look nuclear to me. Flip a switch, turn on a burner, twist a faucet. We use energy daily. Don’t think much about the source, how it gets to us. You can read about it on Wikipedia. Here’s my visual.

I can appreciate the label ‘clean burning coal’ and I am concerned about the folks in greater L.A.
Even with southern California’s additional issues (an inversion layer and loads of people commuting into work) it was unsettling flying into LAX last month to change planes. Gazing out the west side of the plane it looked as though someone had taken their sweeper bag and shook the contents across the sky. The woman sitting beside me was a nurse and commented, “How can they live here?”
Where are the EPA watchdogs?

Thanks, Ruth! Coal is NOT clean! In spite of the advertising by the companies and the money flowing from the coal lobby toward the politicians. I would have though this was a nuclear plant …. just realized we have a couple of nuclear power plants lesss than 50 miles away!!!

Oh wow, this is such a great shot. So full of contrast – nature vs. man, clean vs. dirty, country vs. industrial, expansive vs. cramped… wow. A real visual treat – and a starting point for deeper contemplation. Your images are so rich!